Why today’s leaders need to know about the power of narratives

A new strategy paradigm is called for. Winning in old markets for capital, goods and services depends increasingly on competing successfully in new markets for narratives. Old markets organize the efficient allocation of real-world scarcity. New markets organize mental-world scarcity - the limited cognitive and affective resources that shape our behaviours and preferences. Both are distinct yet tightly linked. Actors compete in narrative markets to secure claims on cognitive and affective bandwidth from consumers, investors or governments, which is then monetized in old markets.